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YOUNG 



iffilllSll ilMffi 



OR, 



A DISCOURSORY INTERYIEW BETWEEN THE 

SPIRITS OF LIBERTY, TYRANNY AND 

A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD. 



AN ALLEGORY. 



BY PROF. PHILIP THORR 



NEW YORK: 
ABBE & YATES, 22 BEEKMAN STREET. 
1854. 



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YOUNG 






9m 



uMl^MiL^ u 



OR, 



A DISCOURSORY INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE 

SPIRITS OF LIBERTY, TYRANNY AND 

A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD. 



AN ALLEGORY 



— i^ 



BY PROF. PHILIP THORP 



fo)^' COPY- 

NEW YORK: 

ABBE & YATES, 22 BEEKMAN STREET. 

1854. 



P&..3.«4l 



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% 



Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1854, by 

PROF. PHILIP THORP, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 

Southera Di.sti-ict of New York. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

The author of Young America's Deeam has published it at the re- 
quest of many friends ; and not because he flattered himself that he was 
giving to the world a multitude of new ideas ; for he believes the play to 
be a true pulsation of the " world's heart ;" and that he has acted only in 
the humble capacity of an Amanuensis, in transcribing that pulsation to 
paper. 

Of the critic, he has only one favor to ask. Their scapal may be sharp- 
ened to as keen an edge as their surgical abilities will enable them to 
hone it. And that one favor is that their lance may be "sharp ;" for of all 
pain that of being stabbed with a " dull" knife is most torturing. 

It may not, however, be out of the author's province to suggest a word 
for those " carpenters" who live by " razing." Let no man abstract a sin- 
gle " stone, rafter," or part of my little " cottage," who cannot fill its 
place by a better one, that will add to its strength and perfection. If he 
cannot " mend" — and still persists in " sawing," he must content himself 
by having his " music" for his pains — and always the good nature of 

THE AUTHOR. 



CHARACTERS. 



ACT FIRST 

Scene First.— Citizen of the World and Tyranny. 

Scene Second. — Tyranny and his Secretary. 

Scene Third.— Citizen of the World, Tyranny, and Liberty. 



SECOND ACT. 

Scene FzV^^— Libertus, Hope, Minerva, Goddess of Plenty^ Apollo, 

and Vulcan. Citizen and Band of Citizens. 
Scene Second. — Libertus and the Citizen of the World. 
Scene Third. — Libertus and Citizen. Band of Citizens, and Tyranny, and 

the Owl. 
Leading Characters.— Citizen of the World, Libertus, and Tyranny. 



EXITS AND ENTRANCES. 

R., signifies Right ; L., Uft ; C, Centre. 

RELATIVE POSITIONS, 

Are denoted by the same letters that exits and entrances are. 



YOTJIG AMERICA'S DREAM. 



ACT I. 

Scene I. — A beautiful evening twilight ; a gtbhous moon, and 
a few twin/ding stars. An Arbor of mnes in the rear of 
which is a grove of dark foliage, and at the right a Forest 
of heavy oaks half hiding a distant city from view. On the 
left and in front of the Arbor is seated, in refieded attitude 
a Citizen of the world. The Citizen arises from his gro- 
tesque seat, and after musingly and alternately walking in 
front of the chair he has just vacated ; apparently unconscious 
that near him stands or hovers a spirit of air or earth, save 
his God ; casts a glance over the scene of Man and Nature 
just relapsing into repose, and thus soliloquises : 

Citizen. Nature I gladly would I dwell with thee, 
And bury myself in thy deep solitude — 
Far — far away from the haunts of men ; 
Holding sweet communion with thy good voice ; — 
There join the general anthems of thy creaturps. 
The natural instincts of all living kind 
Are good ; but man, alone, is most unhappy. 
Now all Nature seems wrapp'd in sweet repose ; 



10 



And yon city's din, with all its strifes, its fears 

And tears, is hushed in sleep. 

Yet all this is but a signal for another 

Land's awakening. 

And while calmness here drives memoff 

From the wrongs of life, the East becomes alive ; 

Then, fired by ambition, the mareh of war 

And fell destruction receives new impulse. 

Columbia I fair land ; 

Blessed by a most bounteous hand. 

Home of the Pilgrims I 

Land where Liberty sought, and struggled well, 

To build her Temple ; and rear a people 

Who might laugh unto scorn gray monarch Europe. 

She reared her house — called down the Pleadies, 

And stamped the milky-way upon her banner : 

Floating o'er the land where her pure spirit dwells. 

Her sons were guided by her hand, 

And seemed so well and true that she 

Pronounced them good. 

So God, pronounced all Nature good : — 

Had not Evil been. Earth would still bear 

The impress of its Creator's hand. Thus, 

Were Tyranny not stalking, with giant strides — 

Seeking to foil, and drive from earth his foe — 

Columbia would to-day rejoice, 

And resound that strain which when first she broke 

The iron chain of Despotism, vibrated 

From heaven to heavens and brought back the voice 



YOUNG America's dream. H^.. 

Of encouragement and aid of Gods. But 
Having been blessed — aided by a high hand, — 
Rewarded with peace, hixury and strength, 
She, nearly, now forgets the secret of her 
Superior force. And rushing headlong, 
Encourages her most insidious foes. 

Fair Liberty ! 
Thy cherished spirit, held most dear, save God, 
In every American's heart, 
How sorry hast been thy grievances ; 
How thou hast wept, when passed from earth 
Those noble souls who first caught the feeble 
Ray of thy glim'ring lamp and light'd a pile 
Whose flame illumin'd the heavens, and made visible 
The black dens of Tyranny ; and drove his 
Bat-like offsprings to fearful dread that day 
Would henceforth reign. 
With what solicitude, fair Liberty, 
Hast thou watched with guardian care, 
That germ of thine own life, whose dignity, 
Virtue, and beautiful examples 
Might give to the world true wisdom 
And the " Rights of Man." 
As the Arch-Fiend surveyed the newly-formed 
Earth of good, and planned his entrance there — 
Has Tyranny viewed thy " Child of the World." 
His plots have been deeply laid. Even Rome, 
Where resides his highest aid, has wreathed 
And severely struggled for thy fall. 



12 YOUNG America's dream. 

But onward shall be thy march ! 

And more beautiful and strong thy growth — 

Thine enemy's far-reaching eye, long ere first 

Thy voice was sounded on Columbia's shore, 

Saw, faintly saw, thy distant light. 

And, calling council in his secret arves, 

Debated long and well thy course. 

'Twas seen that once thy spirit 'roused, 

Like fire upon the prairies' tindered grass, 

'Twould sweep along with furious speed, 

'Till every fragment of its wrath disolved 

And lost itself in air. 

Among the plans resolved upon 

To quench the feeble spark of thy first light, 

Was one more fell than all the rest — 

Deep as it was black ; and far-reaching 

As Lucifer could see. 

'Twas on Virginia's soil to sow the seed 

Of bondage slavery : which, when all other 

Means had failed to drive thee from our shore, 

This seed would take its root ; and spreading 

O'er thy chosen land, crowd out the choicest plants 

Of thy kindliest care, as industry 

And man's equality. 

This was a well laid scheme ; for 'twas founded 

On deep and strongly interwoven principles 

Of artificial man. 'Twas therefore hoped 

That if all other instruments should fail, 

The growth of this foul'd weed 



13 

Would strengthen with your age, 
'Till those infused by Liberty's good cause 
Would find a foe at home ; which might 
Create intestine wars, and a union 
Of itself explode. Wliile Tyranny — 
Gathering up the fragments of Columbia's 
Last hopes — would exult in final triumph. 
This plot has jarred the vitals of her life, 
And with each threatened convulsion, 
A hearty laugh goes up from Tyranny 
And his hosts. 

He laughs as the burning cauldron, 
He has heated up, alarms his hopes for victims. 
His fiendish grin, and complacent dance, 
Are renewed in the dark recesses 
Of his dominions, with every fearful 
Apprehension of Liberty's true sons. 
But laugh old fiend ! Dance thy merry dance 1 
Revel and fatten on impoverished millions. 
Whose empty stomachs and crippled limbs, 
Prostrate their spirits, and make them coward- 
dwarfs — 
Daring not to cast from off their shoulders 
The iron yoke of Despotism and superstition — 
America can never know thy rule ! 
Her chosen champions in halls o' debate 
May wax warm and please thy hopes, for a moment, 
But show thy hated foot-steps on her land. 
And ye will find them brothers in one band — 



14 



Held by ties more strong to each than life — 
Ready to retrace the bloody paths, 
Marked by their sires, o'er frost and snow, 
To haunt you from their homer. 
Rome ! seven hilled Rome ! How various 
Have been thy changiugs, and sad the last. 
Once to exclaim, " I am a Roman Citizen I" 
Was to awe respect ] but now brings back con- 
tempt ; 
For there pollutes the moral atmosphere 
By his foul breath the Jesuit king — 
Second only to the Fiend of fiends. 
This Foe, whose lightest breath is poison 
To Liberty's good hopes, stands watching, 
Plotting for Columbia's fall. 
His wary nets are set in every hamlet 
Of her land. His secret spies stand watching, 
With jealous eye. And o'er each village 
Of her vast domain frowns his hated cowl ; 
While cities, heated by every strife. 
Swarm with his numbers and treasons 'gainst 
Her life. This is a fearful flood of Tyranny's 
Last hope. 0, that the spirit voices 
Of those who have suffered by inquisition, 
Could speak in tones of Jove I 
Their voice would jar the earth. 
And halls where Jesuits plan 
Their secret subtle schemes, 
Would tremble : and scattered fragments, 



YOUNG America's dream. 15 

Of their grand piles, mark the tomb 
Of Liberty's great foe. 
Enter Tyranny from out of the Arhor — arrayed in scarlet 
a-nd glittery. On his Imd a Polish Cap, bordered, by a 
crown. In his hand a sceptre befitting the symbols of his 
Cap. His whole costume denotes the union of Regal and 
Popish rule. Advances toward the Citizen by slow and 
measured strides. 

Tyranny. (■&.) Good Citizen 

Citizen, (l.) Nay I prefix no adjectives 
To my name. 
I know thee well — 
What thou pronouncest good, 
Should be of Hell : 
Thou art Tyranny — 
Hated of my life, 

Father of hell,— and Satan's angry strife, 
Get thee hence, — 
Hide thy hated form, 
And find thine wonted sphere midst 
Europe's raging storms ; 

There wilt thou find fitting emblems of thine hands, 
Low, prowling instincts, waving o'er thy lands. • 
Here stay'st thy steps, and our stars will cease to 

shine ; 
Or the stripes upon our banner-would lash thee to 

the brine 
Of Ocean's angry wave ; which spurning so foul a 
load, 



16 

Would cast thee on its sands for eagle's beak to 
goad I 
Tyranny. Hold 1 impulsive man ; ye liave much wisdom 
yet to learn. But I must hence. My subjects await my 
presence — to-morrow, at high noon, while sleep my armies 
in the Eastern World, I'll visit here, and tell thee more than 
thou hast thought. [Exit Tyranny, b. 

Citizen. (Alone.) Tell me more than I have thought : 

We'll unto this great sage and learn 

What he calls wisdom. [Exit, l. 

Scene II. — Within a Roman Castle. Massive columns hung 
with rich tapestry, through which are seen the spires of Ro- 
man Cathedrals and other indications of Papal wealth and 
power. 

Enter Tyranny, and his Confidential Secretary, l., and seat 
themselves at Table, on which are scrolls and writing imple- 
ments. 

Secretary. My Father, there are troubles here, at home; 
every hour marks some miscreant from you ranks ; who joins 
the heretics, and utters blasphemy 'gainst thy name and 
Church. Where all this will end I have fearful apprehen- 
sions. There are none to trust. Those fostered by your 
care, and charged with most secret missions, become charmed 
of Goddess Liberty, forswear your rule and turn your dead- 
ly foes. There's np calculating who will next carry to her 
bands — perhaps our heads. Some new force must be devised 
to awe these servants and regain your power. 

Tyranny, Who has now turn'd traitor ? 



YOUNG America's dream. It 

Sec. A Father I 

Tyranny. Let him be brought before the Sacred Coun- 
cil. 

Sec. " Let him he brought .'" Father, we are alone. He 
otdy, who said " Let there he light .'" and there was light, can 
thus ceramand. You remind me of Canute, who placed his 
seat upon the ocean's beach, and presumed the tides would 
cease their roll. That Father is now on Liberty's chosen 
land — a vast domain ; whose weight in gi'avitation's scale 
ballances the whole Eastern Continent, and thereby produces 
day and night and all the seasons of the year. This is the 
office her country fills in Nature's universal laws. Now, as 
well attempt to float that whole vast land, through Gibral- 
ter's Straits, as bring one soul, fired by Liberty's enclianting 
spirit, before your altar. — 'Tis said, too, there's a fierce gray 
bird that watches o'er her lands, and carries her messages of 
all your secret plans. 

A bird that soars on high above the thunder's roll, 
And screams the voice of Liberty that rings from 
pole to pole I 

Tyranny. Such stories may be well in a young enthusiast's 
attempt at poetry : so long as her gray birds keep above the 
thunders, they will do me little harm. That, however, the 
false views of the people in regard to the true character of 
Liberty must be corrected, or my influence's destroyed, is 
true. But I do not clearly see what means can be employed 
other than those in use. — I early entered her dominions un- 
der the guise of Bondage — Negro servitude ; and caused 
within her first Congress to be enacted a compromise, which 



18 

I ]iavo 110 idle liopes, v/ill break lier bands, and render her 
scattered forces easy of attack — and doubtless desertion to 
my ranks. — I have entered her dominions niider the guise of 
corporated bedies — which is another name for monopoly — 
and have frequently, apparently, coincided with her views to 
gain an influence 'niong her people, that may hasten forward 
my final triumph. No invention has been neglected, calcu- 
lated to further my interest. Religion, the most powerful le- 
ver for either cause, is actively employed. — My Cathedrals of 
adamantine structure frown over many millions — and awe 
them of my power ; while Colleges for instructing the ri- 
sing 3^outh in principles of my good cause are multiplied in 
every metropolis. — My secret Unions, whose spies are vigilant 
in every* family, are established in each hamlet throughout her 
lands. — These form not the least of my gigantic machinery, 
I am at home on her cotton fields — in her 'factories — in her 
mines — caring not for the name I am known by, 'till my uni- 
versal reign is fixed. My course is gradual, and my schemes 
far-laid ; for a w\ary lass is not to be caught by boisterous 
advances ; but by slow approach. — What new force can be 
devised ? Will I not eventually succeed in subduing much 
talked of Liberty ? — Notwithstanding these positions and 
my hopes, it is true that there are strange forebodings cross- 
ing my mind — a kind of unutterable sense of ruin. — Were 
Liberty to succeed in discovering all my plans ;. and in dis- 
concerting them ; there is no telling where next she may 
wave her magic wand. Perhaps Rome itself ; this old lamp 
of the world will be lighted by her fires ; but it is midnight; 
I must lecture one of these Citizens of Liberty. Good night. 

[Exit, Tyranny, l. 



YOUNG America's dream. 19 

•Sec, I fear the Old Fellow's in his second childhood ; — 
much behind the age. He'd better scheme some way of re- 
volving the earth contrawise, and thereby turn back to the 
leaf of Time to when people thought not I Gray as he is in 
years, and deeply school'd in human nature, he has his weak- 
nesses. Bible-burning is of these. He should have seen 
that every volume of that sacred book thrown on flames 
would only serve to rekindle the fire of Liberty. — Impost 
duties would be borne, when a single touch of his finger on 
the basis of her government, and guard of her perpetuity, 
would arouse to highest action every child of her care. — 
This seems little like slow approach. The truth is, old Ty- 
ranny has more zeal than discretion. [JExit, Secretary, l. 

Scene III. — Same as Scene I. — TYRAUi^Y discovered near Ta- 
ble — advances to c. Citizen seated, l. 

Tyranny. I meet thee Citizen for thy good. Listen — 
consider well Ye have rebelled against that head, divined 
by the hand of God— the author of thy being, to wisely 
rule. I overheard ye last evening, soliloquising upon the 
harmony of Nature's work, and alluding to the WTongs of 
men, and that man alone is most unhappy. — Ye have heard 
of a certain Arch-angel, who chose to rule, even in hell, 
rather than serve in Heaven ; and who conspired against his 
God, found, with all his hosts, a place to revel in his discon- 
tent. And as ^^wcontent can never be content, he sought for 
and found an earth of harmony, where each inferior bowed 
in reverence to all above it — up to Man, whom God had 
pronounced, by making him superior to every other living 



20 YOUNG America's dream. 

kind, a ruler over all. — To God, alone, bowed man. Satan 
came and tempted him to discontent for knowledge equal 
to that of his God. Then followed violation of God's law, 
confusion and death. Satan, by contagion, produced in Ad- 
am and his mate, a spirit of discontent. It was sin — the 
fountain from which spring all the rivulets and swollen tides 
of evil. God gave man dominion over every living kind. 
But did he not create among each class a ruler — a body 
which every other reverenced and obeyed ? There were the 
king of beasts ; the emperor insects ; without which har- 
mony could not have been. Thus, as in the wisdom of the 
universal plan of the spheres, there are the great luminaries 
around which every other body moves in fearful obeyance. 
Then each of these in its turn has sattelites whose every 
movement is governed by its course. And these again have 
their dependants. God has therefore created rulers, and in- 
vested them with Divine Will and Power, which no subject 
has a right to question ; for this is aspiring to equal God in 
wisdow. The people never made a ruler. The experiment 
has been tried, but never with success. A ruler is a being 
who springs from royal lineage at Divine command. 

Citizen. We have learned that God is goodness ; and 
all His works exhibit His beauty, wisdom and justness. — 
Detpotism is not of this ; therefore it is not divine. But 
this sylogism applied to the devil and despotism, and a con- 
clusion was never more obvious and true. 

Tyranny. D-e-s-p-o-t-i-s-m ! This is a term of your inven- 
tion. Of whom do you speak when you name Despotism! 

. Citizen. Doth man make language ? Is not language a 



YOUNG America's dream. 21 

natural product of conditions beyond his reach? 

Tyranny. Grant it to be so. What then ? 

Citizen. Despotism, then, is a name which no man can 
claim as his invention. It had birth in hell, and came to 
earth with its favorite child, now Arch-Despot, Jr., in the 
Infernal Realms of darkness. When I speak of despotism, 
I speak of doctrines exercised by the offspring of this junior 
prince. 

Tyranny. Who taught ye such wisdom of this spirit and 
its geuaology ? 

Citizen. A volume called Revealed and Natural Histo- 
ry. 

Tyranny. That volume must be a ponderous book. 

Citizen. Yes. Its pages are the seven ages. Its chap- 
ters arc first, Asia ; second, Egypt ; third, Europe ; fourth, 
America. Its parchment is called Earth. Its binding of 
material called Oceans. The scribe is Nature's God. 

Tyranny. (Aside.) I am spending my time with a crazy 
man. I know not how to approach him. This is the result 
of those foolish, impracticable ideas, taught by that high- 
soaring spirit Liberty. — My lands and all the social pleas- 
ures thereon ; with titles, good Citizen, shall magic-hke arise 
your property ; and generation to generation shall bear 
your name, and bless the sire whose wisdom gave them birth 
- -if you choose im your friend. 

Citizen. And if I do not ? 

Tyranny. Time must teach ye. 

Citizen. Then time shall be my teacher. 

Tyranny. You refuse my proffer ? 



22 YOUNG America's drean. 

Citizen. I do ; once, twice, thrice, and forever I 

[A distant rumbling is heard, and a doud falls between the fore- 
ground and scenery ; and then, on half-arising, discovers to 
view a Guillontine, a Victim on the rack of Inquisition, and 
armies of warriors. The Citizen looks upon the scene of 
torture, while Tyranny extends his hands towards it, a7id 
studies the countenance of him he would drive to submis- 
sion}. — while firmness is marked on his lips and a demonic 
glare is on his eye. — The cloud again descends, and on arising 
all is quiet, and th£ Citizen again finds himself before the 
accustomed scene of his resort for meditation. — Tyranny 
draws his sword and elevates it over the head of the Citizen. 

Tyranny. (Authoritivdy.) Do you still persist ? 

[ TTie spirit of Liberty enters at this moment, bearing a wand, 
with which she strikes, with arrow-like velocity, the sword 
from the hand of Tyranny. It falls to the earth, broken. 
Tyranny, with an expression of awe, then retreats to the 
back-ground, and the wand, in the hand of Liberty, in- 
stantly changes to the stars and stripes of the American Flog, 
which she waves between the Citizen and his assailant. 

[Exit Tyranny, r. 

[ The flag again resumes it wand-like appearance. Liberty 
raises a Shidd from her side, and motions the Citizen to 
buckle it on, which he does. She then presents him with a 
sword and trumpet. They being accepted, she waves the wand, 
and while music is heard^ a beautiful doud descends, and af- 



YOUNG AMERICA'S DREAM. 23 

tcr resting a moment arises and reveals to the glad Citizen, 
Justista and Virgo. Liberty then presents the Citizen with 
a small banner, on which is gilded 

TRI URIBUS UNUM. JUSTUS, VIRTUS ET HOMO. 

United, we stand. Divided we fall. 



END ACT I. 



24 YOUNG AMERICA'S DREAM. 



ACT II. 



Scene I. — Time — Morning — a few moments hefore sunrise. 
A rosy east rejitcts its light over the surface, of water -^ and 
lights up an elevated grove of fresh verdure and flowery 
bloom, beneath the branches of which are assembled- Liber- 
ty, Plenty, Hope, Minerva, Apollo, aiid Yulcan. On 
the left of this group stand a band of Freemen, or citizens 
of the world, dressed after the style of the old Continentals, ex- 
cepting in the place of tlie black felt hats, they ivear white, 
(wide-awakes.) Each mail is provided with a shield ; and 
at their sides are suspended trumpets. Glistening in the ro- 
sy light are their swords, Hhough the points of these are on 
the ground. Apollo lifts his flute and sounds three notes, 
lohich are a signal for the band who unitedly sing. 

[by the band of citizens.] 

First. Let us join in one united band forever, 

'Gainst tyrannic schemes that our union would sever; 
Let's swear, freemen, to stand by our Constitution. 
And Liberty's free spirit conspir'd Revolution, 
When despoctic rule weighed down our fathers' heads. 

Liberty. Will wave her stars and stripes o'er the graves of 
the illustrious dead — 

All. Ever I Ever I Ever I 

BY CITIZENS. 

Second. Let us join, brothers, join in one united band ; 
A guard of Liberty, on this our native land ; 
To watch with jealous eye what e'er may dare be foe, 



YOUNG AMERICANS DREAM. 25 

And Goddess of Plenty who blessed us long ago ; 
When Liberty o'er Columbia first waved her wand, 

Plenty. Will extend her blessings, with a bountiful hand, 
All. Ever I Ever I Ever ! 



BY CITIZENS. 

Third Let us join in one united band of freemen, 

Republicans by birth,— all trades — yeomen — seamen, 
To boldly speak our cause, on land or rolling deep, 
Minerva, who 'roused our sires, " wide-awake from 

sleep — 
Who guided them in wisdom to gifts we enjoy, 

Minerva. Will lead you onward! onward, your partial envoy, 

All. Ever 1 Ever I Ever I 



BY CITIZENS. 

Fmtrth. We will join, brothers, join as did our fathers bold — 
Unmoved by influence from bribes of foreign gold ; 
We'll protect institutions for which our sires bled. 
The gods who have blessed us, by whom we will be 
led. 
All. Will watch your interest and schemes your joes de- 
vise, 

Ever I Ever I Ever I 



\^A Shield now arises from the waters, o,n which are inscribed 
the letters O. of U. A. The American Eagle ajpjproaches 
and havers over the shield. At this Tnoment the sun arises 
and sheds its dazzling rays over the waters and lights up the 
whole Tableau. Hope now sings. 



YOUN,. AMERICA'S DREAM. 



BY HOPE. 



Fifth. Hope now beams upon the world, Freedom is regain'd ! 
Columbia's safe, and Liberty shall henceforth reign ; 
The people shall ever rule on Columbia's soil — 
Heros bold and strong — sons of noble, honest sires ; 
Always ready at the call of thy country's voice to aid, 

All. Will maintain Institution their sires well laid, 

Ever 1 Ever I Ever ! 

Exeunt All, r. and l. 



Scene II. — Same as Scene I, Act I. The Citizen has 
arisen from his seat ; and the Goddess Liberty stands at his 
side. 

Liberty. Good Citizen. The star of Liberty has arisen ; 
its horizon is as clear and cloudless as that of the first morn 
— when fair Yenus beamed on Earth newly formed — fresh 
from the hand of God, and bade all Nature to harmony and 
love. May the heaven of its half-noon, and its noon, be as 
free from shadows as that of its glorious morn. And where 
Minerva's Temple is reared, for the people's use ; and free 
to all — there will Liberty, as known by fathers of Republi- 
canism on Columbia's fair land have a cloiidless heaven. 

Citizen. AVould that that heaven were as cloudless one. 
But dark vapors came from a far off swamp of Despotism ; 
and sweeping with the force of a tornado, and rising in its 
columns high in air, and threatened disolution to our peace- 
ful hamlet — and all we deem' republic. 

Liberty. This was so ; but now no more. That was an 
approaching winter ; but a warmer sun arose and illuminated 



YOUNG America's dream. 27 

the shaded vallies where those vapors had settled ; and by 
the warmer rays dispersed the cloud— and now His lost, or 
at least has found another land to check in its rising growth. 
. But that land is not where the American Flag has waved, 
or Liberty had ever visited. Kor is that land of Europe ; 
for she has risen, and imitated Columbia's example ! Re- 
publicanisBa has driven Popes and Emperors and Kings 
amazed I Assembled populace in armies grand ; demand- 
ing their rights I Jesuit temples tottered and fell to earth; 
for their walls were to old, and too deeply stained with 
blood for republican use I Regal thrones were converted to 
Protestant pulpits ; and halls where aristocrats once held 
their wanton revels, became institutions of benevolence and 
intellectual improvement. 

Citizen. How, when, and from whence came these revo- 
lutions ? It was not from Rome ? Yet, what a wonderful 
word is Rome 1 She has twice truly known liberty. But 
a dark pall was thrown over her ; and long it was before 
despotic rule could be subdued. But more brilliant should 
be her light, than when her sages — now long passed from 
scenes of Earth — first proclaimed the principles she now so 
proudly calls her own.—How was it that while the impulses 
of men have ever been so good ; and common sense did dic- 
tate true and lasting forms of government, as those of 
general participation in rights of legislation, such despots 
obtain in the homely guise of deformed and meagre men — 
could gain their sought for ends ? By what secret springs 
of human action did these Liberty devouring drones possess 



28 YOUNG America's dream. 

themselves of power ; ruling people of whole geographical 
divisions of the Globe ? 

Liberty, l^he problem is tedious and complicated, but 
simple in its parts. I'll tell the in a Falle : 

*' Once upon a time the inferior gods assembled in con- 
vention for discourse on universal works ; as systems and 
nebulae of systems ; their formations and general govern- 
ment. Last, and when all other business was closed, a mes- 
senger arrived in haste, and on the table placed a scroll, 
which being opened, read in purpose to the amount of this : 
That among the infinite atoms of inferior worlds, was one 
called harmony, peopled by beings of most mysterious form, 
who claim themselves to be in image that of their God I 
These people (read the MS.) transform the beauty and lux- 
urious covering of thy work into barren deserts. The for- 
ests of thy care, where ye have placed enchanting song, and 
birds of beauty's plumage, have fallen ; and the natural ele- 
ments combined by thy wisdom, have been substituted often 
to uses most fell of demons. If these thing progress, and 
no superior hand of integral benevolence, intervene, your 
petitioner humbly enquires if one world in the universal plan 
will not have been created in vain ? — Then enquired the gods 
for the part of space and the identification of the little 
world ; which being given, they forthwith appointed an am- 
bassadress to visit the self destroying world, who through the 
jEterial realms of infinitude made search for the object of 
her mission. On returning to the godly spheres, and when 
court again convened, she read to the attentive gods a report 
which in amount was this : — That she had visited the little 



YOUNG America's dream. 29 

sphere to whose misgivings their attention had been called, 
and learned that that which seemed so wrong was of most 
deep and sound meditation of the major ruler of all plans. 
She learned by observations there, that so constituted were 
the people, that to enjoy the harmony of their world, its 
beautiful organism, and bountiful gifts, were to be once de- 
prived of them. The superior god had therefore let them 
ravish tlie choice gardens of his creation, that they might 
kiiOiV the pangs of hunger, and all the fearful pains of dis- 
cord : and when fully repen^^ant, and kneeling at his shrine 
with staid hands of destruction, he would renew their 
work of their undoing, and bid them to ever after rever- 
ence that which is well." 

Citizen. Then wolves — yea, worse than wolves, have been 
sent into the fold that we may know the value of true 
friends ? 

Liberty. Yea, this is so. Had there not been many Ju- 
lius Ceesars and Popish despots, there never would have 
been a Washington. 

Citizen. Which might be rendered : Had there not 
been a Satan and many devils, there never would have been 
a Saviour. 

Liberty. The World has known enough of hardships to 
truly welcome Liberty. And should it ever again droop in- 
to unwariness of its enemies, history of the past would, with 
every drowsy lethargy, speak a word too frightening for that 
quiet slumber which enables its wiley foes to destroy its on-* 
ly hopes of peace, and infinite progression in happiness and 



30 YOUNG America's dream. 

wisdom. Let the past be for our future welfare ; atid eartli 
shall now rejoice with two-fold gladness. [Exit Liberty. 

Citizen. Then Tyranny is beggared — driven to the abode 
of beasts, and haunts where enlightened man has not yet 
stood. There may he erect his guillotines and ra,cks of 
inquisitions for bats and owls to roost upon, and moan his 
funeral requiem. He ne'er was human, and therefore hath 
no human sympathy. [Exit Citizen, r. 

Scene III. — The same, as Scen£ II. Act I., excepting in place 
of scarlet tapestry, is suspended Flags of all Notions, woven 
into one banner, and surmounted by a cap of Liberty. 

Enter Liberty aTid Citizen, and stand where previously was 
seen Tyranny and Secretary. 

Liberty. This was once the Grand Temple of tyrnanic 
rule. Within these walls have been planned the death of 
more men, women, children and nations, than could stand on 
Italy's soil. Lengthy scrolls, wherein were scribed bloody 
massacres of innocence — and wherein were written of rivers 
of blood in terms of jocularity — were here opened, and 
looked to with the satisfaction of a tradesman, who reads 
the morning news of the rise of stocks. Thus dealt the 
former occupant of this grand pile in human life. Wars were 
here concocted, Emperors crowned, compromises eflfectedj 
and whole Governments bought and sold for gold ; v/hile 
the people acted through compulsion as mere automatons ; 
moved to war or peace at the will of him who sat in yonder 
chair. 



YOUNG America's dream. 31 

Citizen. Yea. His works were most horribly grand, 
and despicably small. Not only were general governments 
objects of his wrath, but the family altar was an object of 
his vengeance. Husbands were made jealous of their wives ; 
and wives to hate their consorts, to enhance his power. Or- 
phans were confined in convents that their robbery might 
not be known to the people. And his sleek headed Attorneys, 
alias Priests, ravished them in their cells, and mocked their 
victims with blasphemous translations of Holy Scripture. I 
cannot dwell upon the past ; my blood boils, and madness 
drives me to sin, of invoking the wrath of God on these low 
Fiends, when Heaven knows they suffer punishment— if pos- 
sible — equal to their guilt. 

[Enter the band of Citizens, l., and arrange themselves in 
columns on either side of Liberty. 

Liberty. Citizens of the world, you have experienced the 
calamities and misfortunes attending an unbridled am- 
bition and prodigality. Let the past be for future 
good. Raise high upon the Banner foremost in your 
ranks, this motto. Diffusion of Useful Knowledge among 
THE Masses. Let the first lessons taught in your schools, 
be self-government and civil independence. Drive from your 
midst useless professions — such as feed on discord, and lead 
their practices to scheming inclinations for political influence 
and power. Choose for your leaders, such as have been bred 
to industry by virtuous examples. And often change these 
officers, that you may not create by a physical law, another 
school of despotism. 



o'ij YOUNG America's dream. 

Baud of Citizens. This shall be our zealous care, 

\_Lileiiy waves her wand and the Temple of despotism falls ^ 
leaving the hand of Citizens on an elevated stagt or platform 
from which they view, with amazement, the scene, wkidi walls 
and massive columns had previously hidden from view. --The 
scene is that of the death of Tyranny in a gloomy fort*-, 
wild with beasts, only for attendants. Breathlessly the bat. 
listen to his dying soliloquy, which is repeated as follows : 

Tyranny. Alas I how changing are the ways of earth [ 
Man, as 1 am, whom millions have obeyed and feared — 
whose word caused Empires to tremble with dread — and 
around whose flowery and golden couch, the fairest daugh- 
ters knelt — now scorned of Earth, and hannted from the 
scenes of men, to die a hated outcast 'mong beasts, that 
make merry over an expectant meal. Thus will thg flesh 
of my poor frame know no burial. 

Owl. And the past will seem to the world as a night- 
mare, of hideous visions. 

\_A cloud descends between the audience and the whole scene ; and 
on arising discovers a Temple of Liberty, U7ider the arches 
of which are assembled the band of Citizens, with Liberty 
in the centre. 

THE END. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 

000 853 553 P 



